Current Edition >> Archives Section >> Leading Stories >> 16-31 May 2006

Skills gap is hitting SA - and the Free State - for a six

A huge coordinated effort to develop the tremendous tourism potential of the Drakensberg / Lesotho mountain region was launched on 7 May 2006 in Durban at the occasion of the annual Tourism Indaba. The participating organizations are Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (LTDC), South African National Parks (SANParks), Tourism KZN, The Eastern Cape Tourism Board and the Free State Department of Tourism, Environmental & Economic Affairs.
They signed a memorandum of agreement, to pave the way for a joint marketing strategy for the so-called Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Project (MDTP) aimed at bringing about the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the Maloti and Drakensberg Mountain Ranges. The marketing managers of the organizations are now to begin a process of developing and implementing a marketing strategy for the region, with input from other industry players and local communities.
The purpose of the strategy is to enhance brand reach to both, national and international markets and to encourage investment in tourism initiatives. Tourism is a major contributor to sustainable livelihoods in this region supporting more than 2 million people.
This joint initiative could perhaps later be extended to link up with other regional initiatives such as the N8 Maloti Tourism Route via Bloemfontein and the Lake !Gariep Tourism Route.
On the photo, from left Quinton Eister (Free State Tourism Authority), Miller Matola (Tourism KZN), Ms. Malie ( Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation), Khulani Mkhize Ezemvelo (KZN Wildlife), Glenton de Kock, (Eastern Cape Tourism Board) and Glenn Philips (SANParks).